Just Ordered the Moto X

Just ordered the Moto X, my first ever Android device, was going to get the Nexus 5 but the Moto X has always caught my eye and i just have always loved motorola devices, before my iPhone(s) i always had motorola phones, first off what am i to expect of the phone and android and is it really as good as what all the reviewers are saying about how great the battery life is and how its one of the best if not the best android phone on the market?

exactly what i did! no contract for $400, i want the 32gb because 16gb is definitely not enough for me, I've learned that hard way when i had a 16gb 4S filled it up instantly and went for a 64gb iPhone 5 and well i won't be loading any videos and will be only putting on select music on my moto x

Just ordered the Moto X, my first ever Android device, was going to get the Nexus 5 but the Moto X has always caught my eye and i just have always loved motorola devices, before my iPhone(s) i always had motorola phones, first off what am i to expect of the phone and android and is it really as good as what all the reviewers are saying about how great the battery life is and how its one of the best if not the best android phone on the market?

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I have a Nexus 5. Bought the Moto X for the cyber Monday deal and actually just sent it back, and I'll get to why I did. But I do think it is a great phone. Stock Android or close to it are really the only phones I would buy. So IMO, the Moto X, Nexus 5, and GPE phones are the only ones worth buying. Of course everyone has their preference. I would just never buy any touchwiz or sense phone.

As for the Moto X, it feels great in the hand. Without a doubt the best feeling phone I have ever had. The back has a nice feel to it and the curves of the back make it feel comfortable to hold, more comfortable than the Nexus 5.

The AMOLED screen offers nice contrast but not realistic colors if that is a big deal to you. It wasn't to me.

The most important thing about the screen, IMO, is its placement in relation to the bezels. That might sound odd at first, so let me explain. Take the Nexus 5 for example. The top bezel is smaller than the bottom one. Which is cool because it can feel like the screen takes up more of the phone's surface area. The Moto X also has top and bottom bezels of different size. However, on the Moto X the bottom bezel is the smaller one. And this is the way it should be.

The screen on the Nexus 5 feels significantly larger than the Moto X. However, if you are in a dark room you can more easily compare just screen sizes without physical phone sizes influencing your perspective. And the actual screen size difference between 4.7" and 4.95" is fairly minimal. The reason the Nexus 5's screen feels so much larger is because of the bottom bezel. The bottom bezel is over half an inch (.625" by my measurement). And since most people hold their phones with the bottom corner resting against their hand or pinky finger, this huge bottom bezel pushes all your content up over half an inch. Then on top of this add navigation buttons and all your content is even higher up. The higher up your content is, the further away from your thumb it is. The further away from your thumb, the larger it feels because you have to stretch your thumb more. Granted, the Moto X has on screen navigation buttons as well, but the key difference here is bezel size. So for the Moto X, it has a smaller bottom bezel, which means all your content is further down, making you stretch your thumb less, making it feel smaller.

Of course the Moto X has a smaller screen, that has been established. But the relative screen size isn't much smaller. The thing that really makes a difference in how big the screen feels is that bottom bezel. When this thought first came into my mind, I just simply tested it with my Nexus 5. By turning it upside down it instantly felt a little smaller. The screen size is still the exact same, but because all content is now lower and closer to my thumb it feels smaller.

A smaller bottom bezel is such a simple concept and makes a big difference. In addition, most people, when using their phone in landscape, turn it counter-clockwise. Doing so with a smaller bottom bezel will mean that typing in landscape will be much closer to having a symmetrical keyboard. With a larger bottom bezel and navigation buttons, landscape typing will be skewed to the left and just feels awkward. Landscape typing on the Moto X just felt more natural.

Anyways, that is enough about screen size. As for battery life, it was decent. Better than my Nexus 4 and initially better than my Nexus 5. But with my Nexus 5 I could easily root it and install battery monitoring apps to see what was causing wakelocks and keeping my phone from going to deep sleep. That let me eliminate the problem apps and get better battery life. And with using Franco Kernel, I get better idle time too. So overall, the battery life is extremely close. Out of the box the Moto X probably has better battery life, but only slightly. After digging in deeper, the Nexus 5 can get better battery life. That has been my experience at least. I know a lot of people will show screen shots from different devices. But the problem with those screen shots is you don't know their usage so battery life is completely subjective. However, after using both I can, with a little more objectivity at least, say the Nexus 5 has slightly better battery life.

Also, the camera isn't good. I am not going to sugar coat it. Low light performance is pretty awful. It looses clarity and saturation. Too much noise. The Nexus 5 has a better camera, but it isn't mind blowing. Google is too liberal with OIS. They expect OIS to compensate for a lot of camera movement so they leave the electronic shutter open longer. The problem is that only works when everything in frame is stationary.

So both phones have their pros and cons. Overall I prefer the Nexus 5. But the Moto X feels better in the hand while still offering a great screen size. The contrast and AMOLED screen are great IMO. Camera and battery life are subpar and don't meet my standards on what is considered a flagship phone. But I am hoping the next version fixes these issues. I know this isn't a Moto X vs Nexus 5 thread (we already have one), but that is my opinion having used both.

I think you will greatly enjoy the Moto X. But you may not be blown away by battery life or the camera, two points Apple has typically done a pretty good job at.

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